ROUND TRIP

A Fast-Paced Trick-Taking Journey

Every round is a gamble! Start with 10 cards, shrink to 1, then climb back to 10. Master the trump suits, nail your bids, and ride the wild swings to victory.

19 Rounds
2-6 Players
30 Minutes
8+ Age
Learn to Play

Game Features!

🎴 The Setup

Hand sizes shrink from 10 to 1, then expand back to 10 across 19 thrilling rounds.

🎯 Trump & Bidding

A trump suit is revealed each round. Players boldly bid how many tricks they'll seize.

⚔️ Playing Tricks

Follow suit when possible. Highest card wins, unless trumped by a special Round Trip card!

📊 Scoring

Nail your bid for big points! Overshoot or miss and face the consequences.

⭐ Round Trip Cards

Color Round Trip dominates. Tan Round Trip can steal victory. Game-changers!

🏆 Win the Game

After 19 rounds, the player with the most points claims victory!

Round Trip Rules

🎯 Objective

Score the most points over 19 rounds by accurately bidding how many tricks you'll take.

🃏 Cards & Setup

63 cards total:

  • 4 suits of 15 cards each (60 suit cards)
  • Blue Suit Blue
    Green Suit Green
    Red Suit Red
    Black Suit Black
  • 3 Round Trip cards:
    • Highest: 1 Color Round Trip card
    • Second highest: 2 Tan Round Trip cards
To Start: Shuffle the deck and spread all cards face down in a line on the table. Each player draws one random card from anywhere in the line. The person who draws the highest card is the first dealer. After every round, the person to the left becomes the new dealer. Pick one person to keep score for the entire game.

📊 Game Structure

The game lasts 19 rounds. You'll start with 10 cards each, then get (1) fewer card each round until you're down to just 1 card in round 10. Then you'll get (1) more card each round until you're back to 10 cards by the final round (at round 19).

Cards decrease
Cards increase
R110
R29
R38
R47
R56
R65
R74
R83
R92
R101
R112
R123
R134
R145
R156
R167
R178
R189
R1910

🎴 Dealing & Establishing the Trump Suit

The dealer deals the correct number of cards for each round. After dealing, the dealer flips over the top card of the leftover deck.

Trump Suit: The suit of the revealed card becomes the "trump" suit for the round. Trump cards beat any non- trump card. If a Round-Trip card is revealed, the dealer will choose the trump suit.

🎯 Bidding Tricks-To-Take point scoring

Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each player announces how many tricks they expect to take this round.

  • A "trick" is one complete set of cards played (when everyone has played one card)
  • You can bid "First Class" — see First Class Option
  • The dealer bids last
  • The highest bidder leads the round
    • A Tie goes to the first highest bidder of the round
  • The scorekeeper records each player's bid on the score sheet

⚔️ Playing a Round

Starting the Round: The highest bidder must lead with a suit, and players must follow that led suit if they can. You cannot lead with a trump suit card unless:

  • You have no other choice (only trump suit cards in your hand), OR
  • Someone has already played a trump suit card in a previous trick during this round (this is called "breaking trump")
  • Trump is "broken" whenever any trump suit card is played

How tricks are won:

  • Players must follow suit if they can
  • Breaking Trump: If you can't follow suit, you may play any card, including a trump suit card
  • The highest card in the led suit wins the trick unless a trump suit card is played
  • Highest Trump Wins: If a trump suit card is played, the highest trump suit wins
  • The winner of each trick leads the next trick

⚠️ Important Rules

  • Highest bidder leads
  • You CANNOT lead with a trump suit until the trump suit is broken
  • Trump suit is "broken" once a trump suit card has been played
  • Everyone MUST follow the lead suit if they can
  • Trump suit beats any non-trump suit card
  • Winner of each trick leads the NEXT card
  • Score is kept round by round

📝 Scoring (bidding)

Outcome Points
Correct bid +10 points per trick
Extra tricks (each trick over your bid) +1 point each
Missed bid (player takes less than their bid) -10 points per trick bid

Example: You bid 3 tricks

✅ If you win exactly 3 tricks = 10 pts each = +30 points
✅ If you win 4 tricks = 30 pts + 1 extra = +31 points
❌ Win only 2 tricks = Lose 10 pts each = -30 points

Special Cards: Round-Trip Cards (setup)

Color Round Trip Card

The Color Round-Trip Card:

This is the Highest trump suit card — This beats every suit. When someone leads with this card, you MUST play your highest trump suit card if you have one (including a Tan Round-Trip card).

Tan Round Trip Card

Tan Round-Trip Cards (x2)

Beats any card except the Color Round-Trip card. If both Tan Round-Trip cards are played in the same round, the second one played wins the trick.

Note: If the Color Round-Trip is not led, you don't have to play your highest card, but the Color Round-Trip will still take the trick.

✈️ First Class Option

When bidding, you can declare "First Class!" This means you're betting you'll win EVERY trick that round.

Payoff: 25 points per trick instead of 10!
Risk: If you miss even ONE trick, you lose 25 points per trick you bid.

First Class Example: You bid 3 tricks

✅ Take all 3 tricks = 25 × 3 = 75 points
❌ Take only 2 tricks = -25 × 3 = -75 points

👥 Team Play (Optional)

For team play, partners sit across from each other and combine their bids. If you and your partner bid 2 and 4 tricks, your team is trying to win 6 total tricks together.

Team Example: Player A bids 2, Player B bids 4 (Team bid = 6)

✅ Team takes 6 tricks = 60 points
✅ Team takes 7 tricks = 61 points
❌ Team takes 5 tricks = -60 points

🔄 Game Flow

1

Deal cards for this round

2

Flip trump card

3

Bid tricks

4

Play the round

5

Score the round

6

Pass dealer left

🏆 Winning the Game

After 19 rounds, the player or team with the highest score wins!

💡 First Time Playing?

Try just rounds 8-12 (3 cards down to 1, then back to 3) to learn the flow before playing all 19 rounds!

Why You'll Love It

🎲

Thrilling Bidding

Every bid is a gamble. Nail it for big points or risk it all.

🔄

Shifting Fortunes

Hand sizes change every round. Adapt your strategy constantly.

Fast-Paced

30 minutes of pure excitement. Perfect for game nights.

🎯

Strategic Depth

Simple rules hide deep strategy. Master trump management.

👥

Social Fun

Play solo or in teams. Works for 2-6 players of all levels.

Unique Cards

Special Round Trip cards create dramatic reversals.